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Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has been greatly anticipated and hyped due to its previous installment, Rainbow Six Vegas, which was quickly accepted by the gaming audience. But, would it be able to sustain the great qualities of Rainbow Six Vegas , like itís phenomenal and decadent campaign, without becoming too repetitive?

If you enjoyed Rainbow Six Vegas, then this should be a game on your to buy list. There are a countless amount of similarities between the two, which some fans may have wanted, but for gamers like me, I want a new game experience because Iím putting down sixty bucks. You would think it would have some noticeable differences, but unfortunately Ubisoft Montreal had other ideas for making a sequel.

Those who are familiar with Rainbow Six: Vegas may be surprised at the removal of Logan Keller, the main character. Keller is replaced with Bishop, who is created and customized by the player. Bishop has more experience from the battlefield and is able to import his knowledge to his advantage in sticky situations.

The player is Bishop, a highly respected and ranked officer in the Rainbow organization. He is a mentor and teacher at the training facility and is an essential asset to the organizations well-being and intel.

The campaign starts in Pic Des Pyreness, France in the year 2005. The story rapidly progresses by moving five years into the future to Las Vegas on July 2, which ironically is the same day of Logan Kellerís appearance in Las Vegas in RSV. Unlike in RSV, the setting constantly changes where you entourage terrorists. That is one characteristic that does not get old, infiltrating terrorists at these beautiful and luxurious hot-spots.

Unfortunately, Tom Clancyís Rainbow Six gameís arenít known for their exceptional story telling. They are known as tactical, first person shooters where you generally obliterate terrorists. The good thing about RSV2 is that it manages to pull off a better story line then itís previous installments, but it still could use room for improvement. In the first Act (the levels in Rainbow Six Vegas 2) the negotiator, Monroe, is assigned to discuss the release of hostages with terrorists. Gabriel Nowak (a member of your squad), Mr. Hotshot, decides that he doesnít want to wait for the cue to fire, but instead fire and risk the life of the innocent negotiator Monroe. Obviously, the result of Nowak firing at his disposal at the terrorists cause them to dismantle poor Monroe and force Bishop to fire on the terrorists. After Monroe dies, your team moves out to defuse a bomb and then extract to the chopper.

The first Act is the only one that takes place in 2005, the following acts occur in 2010. Throughout RSV2, your primary objectives will be to eliminate certain targets and to free hostages. Bishop is ordered to investigate the Cabreros brothers because they have received word that they have taken up small arms trafficking and have chemical weapons in their possession. The realism comes into play when Neville, an undercover NSA agentís cover is blown and he is interrogated. Since Neville has a mic hooked up to him, Bishop and the rest of the team can hear Neville conversing with one another. At the point where he is discovered, he is tied to a chair and Bishop hears him being tortured. The sounds may seem inhumane and vulgar, but the accuracy of the sounds are so precise you may sympathize for the ligaments being eroded from Neville. It is a smorgasbord of screams in excruciating and agonizing pain. Unfortunately, before you are able to take the Cabreros brotherís lives, they take Neville first and itís an upsetting event for the entire Rainbow organization.

Will Bishop be able to extinguish the disputes terrorists are having with U.S. Agencies and civilians, or will they continue with their reign of terror...

The first noticeable difference you will see is in Co-op. Like Halo 3 and other shooters that allow you to play with a bud in the campaign, RSV2 also delivers with this fantastic opportunity. However, their is a change from the campaign supporting four players to two players. Some people may be disappointed at the removal of the extra two players, but instead you get more time to own terrorists with your friend.

The controls in RSV2 remain flawless in all aspects, that is once you get used to them. A hardcore Call of Duty fan would need time to adjust to the new controls, but if their hearts desire, they can have the controls synchronized to play as Call of Duty would. If you leave the controls at default though, it will seem much easier and oriented to how other shooters would play out.

One aspect of the gameplay that really stands out to me is how even the small details arenít slopped together, but you can tell have had time put in to them to display perfection. Climbing a ladder or being shot at through glass, all has perfection written all over it. When climbing a ladder, you can witness how the full body is moving along it, every finger is grasping ahold of the next bar on the ladder to progress, all in sync and performs flawlessly. When you shoot through glass, you can see how thousands of little pieces of glass are flying everywhere and even remain on the ground and become embedded shards into a fallen enemy, or the carpet. When descending into a closed area with a rappel, the movements are again perfected and play perfectly whether you smash into a window or rock climb with it.

The weapons are standard, ones that you would find in most shooters. Typical rifles, shotguns, machine guns and sniper rifles are all common in RSV2. The night vision goggles definitely spice things up, but unfortunately there is a lack of opportunities to use them because you generally are fighting in the light, or outside in the sun.

Something very engrossing is that it supports the Xbox Live Vision Camera and PlayStation Eye. I personally did not use it, but you are able to take pictures of your self and import them onto Bishop where you can incorporate them onto your clothing, face, etc. You can even use them online for others to see. You donít have to take pictures of your self though, you can take them of knives, guns, or anything that is of your possession or something in which you are accessible to.

Another ecstatic detail is that the game only requires a whopping 120 kb (for a complete game save)! Compared to most games that is really a shocker. The reason is RSV2 is a rather large game, so how the entire game comes down to that is a shell shocker. So if your down to only few Megabytes, then this is another perfect reason to get it.

If you normally system link then youíll be happy to know that it supports 2-16 consoles. As many people look down on that factor and brush it off thinking that they donít use it, or itís pointless, you would be surprised at how many people do console link.

The overall presentation of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is luscious, palatable, pleasing, sweet, satisfying, attractive, engaging, gratifying, or whatever word you would like to use. First, the visuals are everything you would expect from a Tom Clancy title. Displaying at HDTV 720p to HDTV 1080p the picture is crisp and detailed and In-Game Dolby Digital sounds great. The guns have a realistic feel to them provided mostly by the accurate recoil after shooting.

A small complaint would be the visuals, at a distance everything looks absolutely stunning. Close in on the background objects however, and the details can be fuzzy at times, and lacking detail. At the convention center which coincidentally happens to be holding MLG, you have to infiltrate and eliminate certain terrorists. From afar the building and all the furniture, computers and other objects inside look great, but up close they're a bit disappointing. If you want to mentally remember the game as having strong visuals circulating (in all aspects), then try not to stare to hard at inanimate objects. However, overall the end product from the Havok and Unreal Engine 3 is quite impressive, even if it does have a few quirks.

Originally, when RSV2 launched, it contained a lot of in game advertising. However, it isnít like most games that have in game advertising. Almost every corner you turn to, that same old advertisement you saw in that last hallway, has reappeared and seems to follow you around because every time you turn, there it is. As cool as it may be to see real life advertisements in the game, it's annoying as anything. Tropic Thunder, who it would appear to be sponsors of RSV2, held contests for certain in game advertisements that were placed around the game. They would hold clues, so you could figure out the answer, and hopefully win the contest. They were eventually removed in an update along with Trojan condoms, Indiana Jones, I Am Legend, Comcast, Fringe, Rogers, Far Cry 2, Canadian Forces, The Dark Knight, US Army, My Bloody Valentine, Iron Man and Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and replaced with Major League Gaming and Microsoftís Iím a PC advertisements.

Another disappointing thing is the voice acting and how it synchronizes with that character. The dialogues are strong, but with their mouthís not moving in accordance to what their saying, it gets confusing as to who is talking.

Even with the game being a solid 8-10 hours for the average player, you will still most definitely spend more time online, then off. Online consists of Co-op, Deathmatch, Team Battle, and simultaneous versus. In RSV2, there are 10 new close-quarters maps and a new mode called Terrorist Hunt. In Terrorist Hunt, you and three human players go terrorist hunting for specific terrorists, and once you neutralize them you are given a new terrorist to annihilate. Online will capture the player for the longest amount of time because of the amount of users online. It only takes a matter of minutes before the game is full which is refreshing because most games have deserted servers in a matter of months after its release (like Turok). Itís obviously not the case for Rainbow Six Vegas 2 because itís been released for 10 months now and the servers are still full (sometimes itís even hard to get into a match).

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is worth a purchase because of all of itís replay value. Besides from the action-packed campaign, the online modes are spectacular, there is a decent amount of downloadable content and the Leaderboards need some new names. The online match making is ten times better then the previous Rainbow Six Vegas, scratch that, it has the best online match making in the entire Tom Clancy collection (up to date). There is also a new reward system in RSV2 that reflects off the experience point (XP) system. For every kill that the player acquires, the player will gain XP. The interesting thing is, unlike its predecessor, the experience system is also tied in with the story mode. There is a new system called the A.C.E.S. combat system which works like achievements. Through A.C.E.S. the player can earn new weapons. The player can customize their clothes and weapons to their likings. Besides earning new weapons from A.C.E.S. the player can earn new weapons by advancing ranks (which is through XP, which can be earned both online and in the campaign). If you desire, you can download Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Fan pack which includes three new maps, new A.C.E.S. and 99 more elite ranks. This download is for both the PS3 and 360 (PC users can get it online via Ubisoftís website).

I was pleased at the outcome of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 because it was able to maintain those phenomenal characteristics of Rainbow Six Vegas while keeping its distance from becoming too repetitive. For the most part, everything ran smoothly and ensured the gaming public that Tom Clancyís games are of class and perform at a higher level, then most games can even imagine playing at. You will conceivably get your money's worth and have a hell of a time.

This will prolly be my only review on here...but I just wanted to here what fellow gamers thought. I used to write for a professional site (if you can tell my age...don't hold that against me ) well...

You’ve got some good points and I can definitely tell that you've put some time in with the game, but my primary feedback would be to slice this thing probably in half. There's a lot of unnecessary detail that distracts the reader from your points, and it was hard to follow the flow.
I'd say trim the fat and resubmit, and if you want more feedback after that, I'd be glad to give it.

You mention the first game's "phenomenal and decadent campaign," but that's a lot to take for granted, especially for someone who hasn't played the first game. It's very subjective, and something that deserves a one- or two-sentence overview/example rather than just being stated like that.

Your writing picks up after the first few paragraphs, and it's evident you know the game and the genre; this really comes through. That's good, and keep with that, but again in a little less detail.

The previous poster says to show don't tell, and I'd agree. One concrete example is better than a lot of adjectives.

Speaking of examples, this is good visceral writing: "The sounds may seem inhumane and vulgar, but the accuracy of the sounds are so precise you may sympathize for the ligaments being eroded from Neville. It is a smorgasbord of screams in excruciating and agonizing pain."

It sounds like you aren't interested in publishing, rather in spreading the word about this game, and that's cool. But if you change your mind and want to re-work in hopes of going to our front-page, then I hope you'll give it a shot at editing.